


The Hardest Part

by roidadidou



Category: Super Science Friends (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 22:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15277407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roidadidou/pseuds/roidadidou
Summary: Marie doesn't understand why Darwin is so upset when Einstein develops a fever.





	The Hardest Part

The red, blaring alarm descended from the ceiling of every room in the bell tower, disrupting everyone’s business and herding them into the computer room. Z3 was commanded to briefly explain the mission and display a visual on the screen. But before they departed, Darwin halted everyone.  


“Where’s Albert?” He asked. To answer him, the boy hurriedly ran into the room. His clothes were thrown on haphazardly, his hair barely brushed - locks of which stuck to his red forehead. In general, he seemed ‘out of it.’  


“I’m here! I’m coming-” He said, before his feet stumbled, and he nearly lost his balance. A sharp coughing fit interrupted his statement.  


“Yeesh… You don’t look so good,” Freud observed. When he placed his hand on the teen’s shoulder, it was promptly pushed away.  


“I’m fine. I…” Albert trailed off, placing his own hand on his forehead, as his mouth was left hanging open for air. The adults concernedly stepped around him.  


“Albert?”  


“Einstein?”  


His name was called repeatedly, hoping to bring him back to awareness, but it was no good. Various gasps and noises of shock were heard as his eyes rolled back, and his knees buckled, dropping his body to the floor with a heavy ‘thump.’  


He awoke later in his own bed, a damp rag above his brow. He turned to see a woman in a familiar blue dress standing in front of his desk, who was rummaging through her bag of medical supplies.  


“Marie?” He asked through his headache. She turned at his voice and held up a thermometer.  


“Good, you’re awake.”  


“What happened?”  


“You fainted.”  


“No, I mean about the mission.”  


“They went on without us.”  


“O-oh. Sorry.”  


“No worries. I didn’t really care anyways. Say ‘ahh.’”  


When the mercury in the thermometer settled, she pulled it from his mouth, shook it, and read the number.  


“I’ve seen worse. Stay in bed and drink your water.” She gestured to a pitcher and glass on his nightstand, presumably placed there by the doctor while he was unconscious. Albert mumbled a thank-you as Marie gathered her things into the bag and left. It didn’t take him long to fall back to sleep.  


The team was waiting for her as she came back into the computer room. Darwin seemed the most anxious out of them all, with fidgeting hands and a furrowed brow.  


“Not too bad, I hope?” Churchill asked between puffs of his cigar.  


“Just a fever. He’ll be fine.”  


“Then why did he faint?” Darwin interjected quickly.  


“He’s stressed.” Marie replied in a blunt fashion.  


“There’s no doubt that entire disaster with Newton left him traumatized,” Freud added, with a hand stroking his beard.  


“We’ll just keep him out of missions for a while.” Churchill concluded. Everyone seemed fine with the answer, except for Darwin, whose apprehension was apparent to everyone.  


“Well, you gave him medicine, didn’t you?” He asked the doctor.  


“I don’t need to.”  


“Wh- Don’t need to? That’s your job!”  


“Don’t argue with the doctor,” Tesla said flatly. He, like others in the room, was beginning to get annoyed with the biologist’s defiance. The man’s agitation continued, however, his shaking hands balling into fists as his gaze frantically turned between each member.  


“Isn’t there some kind of cure-all Tapputi has? A potion?”  


“What do you take me for, Charlie? I’m not a snake-oil salesman.” Came the bitter reply.  


“Darwin, you’re overreacting.” Said Churchill, but it fell on deaf ears. Marie raised her hands defensively and held them forward, as if she were confronted by wild animal.  


“Calm down. It’s just a common bug, he’s going to be fine-”  


“That’s exactly what they said about Annie!”  


Annoyed expressions turned to worry as he blurted the name. Marie’s outright shock made Darwin self-conscious, and he looked around at his team once more.  


“I-I’m sorry, I’ll… Excuse myself.” He pulled his coat straight with trembling hands, and left the room.  


As Darwin hurried down the hallway, he passed by Einstein’s open door. His feet froze him in place with his gaze fixed on the sleeping boy. All parents could admit to watching their children sleep; maybe the fixed rhythm of their rising and falling chests is calming, after a hectic daily routine. Maybe every parent worries that somehow, for some reason, that rising and falling will stop during the night, and leave them with a tragedy to wake up to in the morning.  


Three times was Darwin unfortunately proved right.  


“Darwin?” He was startled to hear his voice, and turned to see Marie making eye contact.  


“I’m sorry about my outburst.” Came his instinctive apology. Marie approached him. Her eyes followed his gaze towards Albert’s bed. She ignored his initial statement, staying silent for a moment.  


“Was Annie someone in your family?” She asked him. Darwin’s muscles went stiff.  


“My daughter.” He was trying his best to keep himself composed. Marie went quiet again.  


“You aren’t alone, Darwin. I lost my husband.”  


Her reply pulled his eyes away from Albert.  


“We weren’t judging you when you mentioned her. We all know how it feels to lose someone important.”  


Between each statement, the only sound in their ears was Albert’s slow breathing. The biologist absentmindedly combed his hand through his beard until he thought of a response.  


“The hardest part is… Is telling your family what happened.” He said quietly.  


“I didn’t know how I was going to look my wife in the eyes and say-... Say…” His voice cracked, his sentence left unfinished. Tears began to cloud his vision. Marie looped one hand underneath his arm, her other hand petting the fibers of his coat. She could feel the shake of his shoulders and chest. Darwin’s free hand covered his eyes. After the first sob came from the bottom of his throat, Marie pulled her hand away from his jacket to retrieve the handkerchief in her pocket. When she offered it to him, he took it gingerly, wiping his cheeks.  


“I’m sorry,” He mumbled.  


“Don’t be.” Came her response. With her other arm still entwined with his, she carefully pulled him away from Albert’s doorframe.  


“Let’s not wake him up… Come on, we’ll go see Freud. You’d be surprised how helpful he is with these things…” Her voice was unusually tranquil without the harsh authoritative attitude she normally composed herself of. Darwin nodded with a sniff, following her lead.  


Their footsteps faded down the hallway as they left Albert alone to rest.


End file.
